- We often see stewards at the airport wheeling their luggage and we wonder what is inside. Here, Jocelyn shares the info:
- In luggage: Winter coat, sweater, in-flight sandal, airline tool kit (ice tong, towel tong, people counter device, gloves).
- In sling bag: Notes for manuals, safety equipment list, children stickers and other necessities.
Regularly flying through the calming sea of clouds, Jocelyn Jong spends between 100 and 150 hours on air being pretty for a quite demanding job.
Constantly on the go, and always in a different time zone, Jocelyn Jong shares the challenges of working as an air stewardess for a local airline. Due to the odd working hours, Jocelyn admitted that it was initially difficult as her body was not trained to sleep and eat accordingly.
“That was the main reason why I lost weight in the beginning. Furthermore, we are always on home standby and airport standby when we have to be ready for a period of time in case of emergencies and flight vacancies,” she disclosed.
Jocelyn shared that her heart accelerates whenever she receives a call from the office as she would not know what sort of adventure awaits her. “And which season clothing to bring with me,” she said in a half-joking, half-serious manner.
Nonetheless, she enjoys being in the service industry. “I love to interact with people, and I enjoy talking to people of different backgrounds and culture.” To the 26-year-old, her tomorrow is different from her yesterday as it entails meeting different passengers and crew members.
“I am forever excited to see familiar faces in the airport and onboard. However, because I am in uniform, I had to squeeze all my feelings into my cheeks and smile like a little squirrel,” she chuckled.
One good thing about her job though, she mentioned that there is no paperwork to bring home, and she can relax one hundred percent during off days without a thought about work.
When asked why she chose to be an air stewardess, she answered that she loves to fly. “That is why during my university days, I studied hard and joined all the extracurricular activities needed to meet the requirements to go for school exchange programmes.”
Her dream to venture a different pasture came true when the Sultan Idris Education University sponsored her studies in Arkansas, the USA during her university days for six months. Since then, she could not stop travelling. “I have backpacked, couchsurfed, and hitchhiked around the USA, UAE, Australia and of course, Malaysia.”
Life as an air stewardess
It is no easy task, says Jocelyn as she shares her daily routine. Before a flight, she would check her roster and jot down all the information she needs. From flight number, departure and arrival time, flight hours, crew members, to the particular destination country’s time zone, customs, immigration, quarantine, fumigation and duty-free allowance.
She will also browse through the safety, first aid and service manuals before getting her makeup and hairdo done. Then, she will pack her bags accordingly and head to the airport. One interesting thing she notes is that flight attendants can pack their bags and luggage swiftly.
“After arriving at the airport, I will check myself in at the office and this is when you know the room for your pre-flight briefing and what the aircraft number is. We will then meet with all the crew and you will have to introduce yourself to everyone. The in-charge cabin crew will give a 17-minute briefing about safety and service, and assign us to our working positions. After that, my set of crew and I move as a team to the aircraft.
“The first thing to do when we enter the aircraft is to check the safety equipment and check the cabin sterility. After that, we report to the in-charge cabin crew if there is any discrepancy or defect and proceed to prepare for service.
“And then there’s boarding, welcoming passengers and assisting them with their seats. We will then give a short briefing for passengers seated at the emergency exit area (for aircraft type Boeing 737-800) and a last safety check before take off.
“After take off, we start to prepare the meals and drinks and proceed with the service (ice cream is available on certain routes). We can have our crew meal after we are done serving the passengers and after the cabin and lavatory is clean.
“Next, we’ll prepare for the second service if there is any, otherwise we would walk around the cabin to check on the passengers to make them feel more comfortable and ease their journey.
“After the pilot’s descending announcement, we start to prepare the cabin for arrival. This is the time when you need to store your bags securely and put on your seat-belt. It’s the most critical phase of flight so you want to be well prepared for any unexpected emergency situation. You have to make sure that you are secured and not blocking anyone in case of evacuation.
“Then, we will bid the passengers goodbye after the aircraft door is safely attached to the aerobridge and opened. Next, we check on the cabin for security reasons after all the passengers have disembarked. We then proceed to store back all the equipment used during flight, for example, infant seat-belts.
“We would gather around as a team after coming out from the aircraft for a post-flight briefing. The in-charge cabin crew would have to write a report on any incidents or accidents that happened on board. We will then proceed to the immigration counter together as a team and finally, head home,” Jocelyn explains as she concludes a detailed routine of a stewardess.
After being in this line of service for almost two years, Jocelyn commented that she had learned to become more lady-like. Especially in business class, Jocelyn learned the different uses of cutlery, “I learned to remove teabag on the rim of the saucer and hold the saucer while sipping tea, to behave properly and sit like a lady and interact with people of all kinds, keeping in mind the appropriate sensitivity to their culture,” she elaborated further.
